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Session #3630

Effectiveness of Various Components in a Mechanics of Materials Course

David J. Mukai University of Wyoming Civil and Architectural Engineering

Introduction The pressures on undergraduate Science, Math, Engineering, and Technology (SME&T) education are well documented (1). Some of these problems include: undergraduate SME&T courses tend to filter out students, leaving only a few highly-qualified graduates; low retention in SME&T courses because students find them boring; and an increased amount of knowledge that needs to be transmitted. This project modifies materials developed by Gregory Miller at the University of Washington under the auspices of the NSF Engineering Coalition of Schools for Excellence in Education and Leadership (ECSEL) for implementation at the University of Wyoming. The original materials included standard homework and exams, design projects, group work, basic competency exams, computational visualization tools, multimedia instructional tools, hands-on experiences, and student presentations. The objectives and outcomes of this project are: 1. Adapt the engineering mechanics materials developed at the University of Washington and implement them into courses at the University of Wyoming 2. Evaluate the effectiveness of the adapted components at the University of Wyoming

Survey Class In Spring 2002, the PI taught the targeted course, Mechanics of Materials, for his first time at the University of Wyoming without the materials being implemented from the University of Washington. Because of staffing issues, the PI did not teach the targeted course again until Spring 2003. The adapted materials were used in this class and evaluated by exit surveys and reflective notes. The students’ preferred learning styles were determined by surveys. The Spring 2003 class that used the new materials was comprised of 35 students. Administration of the course is at the college level and instructors for the course come from various departments and are rotated. Due to circumstances beyond the control of the PI, twelve of the students in the class were repeating the class. Course grades were based on fundamental exams, homework, hands-on activities, a course binder containing

Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright  2004, American Society for Engineering Education

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Mukai, D. (2004, June), Effectiveness Of Various Components In A Mechanics Of Materials Course Paper presented at 2004 Annual Conference, Salt Lake City, Utah. 10.18260/1-2--13908